

Why buy when you can rent? New Tool Library coming this fall
Need a saw, but don’t want to buy one just to use it once? ReSource’s new Tool Library is hereto help. Open to
residents, non-profits and civic entities in Boulder County, the Tool Library will house more than 1,000 basic toolsrelated to carpentry, gardening, plumbing and more. For a nominal fee, we can share resources rather than each owning our own, lessen our environmental impact, put tools in the hands of those with limited means and build community. The Tool Library will be located next to ReSource at 6400 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder. It’s slated to open in October 2010. Learn more at
www.resourceyard.org.
Plan for a Zero Waste Boulder County
After adopting the goal in 2005, Boulder County staff members are putting the finishing touches on a plan to get us to Zero Waste by 2025. What’s on the agenda? With county residents recycling about 30% of their materials (on par with the national average), and less than 15 years to become a national leader, much of the plan focuses on helping municipalities improve their
residential recycling and composting programs. The plan also calls for the need to look into more infrastructure to recover organic discards with commercial composting facilities and to recycle construction materials with more programs like ReSource. More participation and dedication from businesses is also crucial. It’s critical for the county to demonstrate a serious commitment to its Zero Waste
target and enable municipalities to take bold steps to get us there—otherwise, we’ll be nothing more than average wasters.
New Hazardous Materials Management Facility coming in 2011
If you frequent the Boulder County Recycling Center, you might have noticed some construction on the west end of the building. That spot will be the new home of the Boulder County Hazardous Materials Management (HMM)Facility. The new, energy-efficient facility will replace the existing Household Hazardous Waste Facility and will be expanded to provide services to businesses along with residents. It will also have an indoor retail center for customers to browse and purchase reusable products like paint. This brings us one step closer to a Zero Waste Park, with ReSource, the recycling center, and soon, the CHaRM, within a half mile of one another. The only thing missing is a commercial composting facility. Read more about the new HMM facility in the next issue of the Eco-Cycle Times.
Boulder County manufacturers out front in green packaging revolution
 Eldorado Springs is the first U.S. bottled spring-water company to use a 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottle. Made from the same #1 PET bottles you throw in your recycling bin, this bottle leaps past the competition and their paltry 10% recycled content, and saves 77% of the energy used to make a plastic bottle from natural gas. On the other side of the grocery store, Boulder Canyon Chips is sporting a 100% compostable chip bag made from wood pulp sourced from responsibly-managed plantations. Traditional chip bags are made from multiple layers of petroleum-derived plastic films which can’t be separated for recycling. Compost your Boulder Canyon Chips bag through your curbside composting bin, after you finish every salty crumb.
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